The former US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as one of the most influential occupants of the vice-presidency in American history. Although numerous second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "actual president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a collaboration because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a faction of neo-conservatives that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any unresponsive planes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, causing him to be focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Actions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on faulty reports repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the correct action to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I hold that view presently."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I observed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: at worst, deception, ineptitude, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had written a document detailing situations in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "availability of vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," specifically citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the Oval Office vaguely intent on implementing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of reducing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's face that all visitors had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting striking Iraq, consistently referencing intelligence reports that were either weak or totally inaccurate. He supported what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no useful information had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place initiatives to apprehend the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by detractors such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees leave his hole? This represents a advantageous way to operate, in fact."
Business Interests
Debate over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as VP. Even though he had minimal expertise in commerce but good contacts in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the White House. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US deals worth billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his period at the corporation rose from his previous salary while military head to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty
